If you are physically active but overweight, don’t worry: Research suggests that physical activity may actually help combat some of the negative effects of excess weight. Physical activity leads to physical fitness which in turn is likely to make you metabolically healthy and fit – this means no high blood pressure, high cholesterol or high blood sugar.
Researchers at the Cooper Institute, a non-profit organisation in Dallas in the United States, found in a study that fit men in all weight categories – normal weight, overweight, obese – had significantly lower death rates from cancer than unfit men.
Another study published in the European Heart Journal found that individuals who were overweight or obese, but metabolically healthy and fit, did not have a greater risk of developing or dying from cardiovascular disease or cancer than normal weight individuals. Researcher Francisco Ortega, one of the authors of the study said, “… getting more exercise broadly and positively influences major body systems and organs and consequently contributes to make someone metabolically healthier, including obese people”.
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